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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25504909">Reassurance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorekid/pseuds/lorekid'>lorekid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In the Cards: Vignettes from the World of The Arcana [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Arcana (Visual Novel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Married Life, Minor Anxiety, One Shot, Original Character(s), Pet Names, Self-Indulgent, The power of friendship, all i have is pet names, general rowdiness, minor adult reference, soft domesticity, tipsy shenanigans, tm - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:54:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25504909</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorekid/pseuds/lorekid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a night in the Rowdy Raven, bawdy songs and theatrical jokes dissolve into a night of softness between newlyweds as they navigate the thrills of their new lives and the lingering anxieties of the past. Julian's faced his battles, and now he's ready to help Midas face her own. 2,325 words! Tipsy humor and marital bliss ensue, served with a side of fluff and gentle domestic sweetness.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Apprentice/Julian Devorak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In the Cards: Vignettes from the World of The Arcana [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847695</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reassurance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Midas could not think of a place she would rather be than clinging to the arm of her husband as they careened through the South End, giddy from the tales they had heard and the high from the company of her lover. How they looked to the onlookers, whoever they could be at this hour, she didn’t care, not while she could enjoy the sights and sounds of Julian singing yet another bawdy toon. She laughed raucously, distracting her lover from his tipsy ballads until he, too, lost himself in his own laughter. She doubled over in the street, gasping in laughter as she watched him try to recount what lines he had sung already. Eventually, he crossed his arms in a caricature of the foreboding, tortured man he pretended he was. He wheeled around to face his wife with his best attempt at sternness on his angular features.<br/>
</p><p>"My darling, are you making a mockery of your dear husband?” Midas pushed herself off of her knees, wiping a tear from her eyes, careful not to smear the precariously dampened makeup from her lashes. She opened her mouth to speak, only to for her words to catch on silent laughter hanging in her throat. She wheezed again, clutching her stomach with a free arm. Julian’s mask sustained a hairline fracture, and he bid his lips to remain his allies. He quirked a thick brow, tilting his head back to peer down his nose at his lover. “Out with it, sweetheart!” He challenged her in mock annoyance. Midas laughed again, her brows furrowing at the joyous pain creeping into her sides.<br/>
</p><p>“No more of a mockery than you’re making of yourself!” She admitted, biting the inside of her lip to stifle her laughter. He smiled to himself, exhilarated by the flush of laughter cast on the face of his beloved. Julian made a show of rolling his eyes, exaggerating the expression with a toss of his head.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh, so these are the woes marriage blessed me with?” He declared with a flourish, theatrically moving his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He smiled behind the cover of his glove, delighted that he could bring such laughter to a woman that brought the whole of Vesuvia such light. Before he could catch himself in his thoughts, he subtly shrugged the coat from his shoulders, turning to make a dramatic face at the sight of his beloved garment sundered from his form. He resisted the urge to turn to the sounds of his lover laughing, stooping to collect his coat once more. He folded it over his shoulder, watching his lover for a moment while she sputtered about how clumsy he was when opportunity caught in his open eye.<br/>
Midas wiped her face on her wrist, certain that her mascara was running now. Regardless of the tomfoolery he got himself into in the name of theatrics, she loved nothing more than the moments like this, and Julian was sure to keep their lives full of them.<br/>
</p><p>“Ah, bravo, my love.” She made a charade of applauding him like a critic. She willed her breath back into place between her words, wiping the blur of brown ink from her wrists.<br/>
The force and surprise of being swung over Julian's shoulder caused her to yelp before she could address him further. She quickly latched her legs around his torso to steady herself as he sped into the night.<br/>
</p><p>"Julian Devorak!” She exclaimed out of habit, only to be met by his own share of hearty, irreverent laughter.<br/>
</p><p>The doctor's long legs made quick work of the remaining distance back to her shop, and it took him even less time to barge into his home away from home with triumph. He closed the door with a heavy boot, storming through the foyer to cart his wife up the stairs. He smiled broadly and recklessly at another protesting cry of his name, oblivious to the gentle rhythm of Midas hammering her fists into his back. He chuckled with pride as he crossed the thresh hold into her room, only to falter as a set of her tiny, enameled brass bells swatted him in the face. The grip on her legs weakened, and she wriggled out his grasp. Midas was lost in a fit of laughter renewed. Julian watched her flee from his form, and she collapsed into the velvet throws of her bed. He caught his own breath, shrugging the black coat off of his shoulder to make haste of removing his boots.<br/>
</p><p>“Really, darling, you should have known about the bells by now,” She mumbled, reaching for a handkerchief to wipe the rest of the day from her face. She sighed as the last fit of the giggles left her small frame, but furrowed her brows at the sudden silence from her lover. She knew that meant nothing in her favor. Cautiously, Midas peaked over the now-stained linen, only to watch her husband bolt up to her like a cur in the street. She opened her mouth to protest, leaning back to kick him away a moment too late, and before she could react, her husband had knocked her into the bed once more. Midas smiled warmly, feeling a bloom of love in her chest at the sound of his laughter, the laughter she had fought death itself for. She listened as his breathing slowed, still until she felt her his weight sag off of the bed until he was sprawled out on the floor. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, watching as the man’s chest heaved. She laughed, tossing him the rag in her hands.<br/>
</p><p>“Wash up, my love,” She spoke up, and Julian turned his attention to her. He watched the rag flutter to his side, just shy of his resting hands.  He sat up and fetched the cloth, using it to wipe the fine layer of sweat from his face. Midas raised a brow when he made a mock sound of disapproval, shaking her head as she moved to the chest at the foot of the bed to fish out fresh garments for both of them.<br/>
</p><p>“What,” he began, “Is tonight not a good night for a soothing bath with your beloved husband?’ Julian reached behind his head to pull at the strings of his eyepatch, letting the covering fall to the floor as he scrubbed at his face. The lulling hum of his wife drew him from his frenzied cleaning.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s night, Jules,” She reminded him softly, pouring water from a carnival glass carafe into her washbasin. “It’ll be another five hours or so until I’ll have enough energy to heat that much water.” She opened a vial of rose water, tapping the tincture into the basin. She didn’t need the mirror to hear the even footfalls of her husband approaching her. She felt him press a kiss into the top of her head and watched as he enveloped her soft hands within his own. Midas smiled at the gesture, feeling the warmth of his magic pool in her chest, alongside the radiant love she held for him.<br/>
</p><p>“Julian, you don't have to-”<br/>
</p><p>“I know very well, dear,” He knew she was still afraid of his aversion to magic, or more aptly, that she saw some sort of... risk associated with herself. “I’ve been doing my own research into it all, my dove,” He explained, clasping his hands around hers. She heard him chuckle softly, feeling the sound reverberate in his chest. “You should know, more than anyone, that I’m not afraid of uncertainties anymore.” Midas glanced down at the soaked petals in the basin, watching the blooms settle in the cool water. She hummed in gratitude.<br/>
</p><p>“You always flatter me so deeply, my love,” She hummed quietly, a gentle incantation to warm even the little bit of water within the ceramic. She felt Julian’s hands move to rest on her shoulders, where he idly massaged the tired flesh. He made a small sound in thought, only for Midas to cut him off. She smiled in her voice, and he watched her step aside to make way for him.<br/>
</p><p>“There we are, the water's warm now. You wash up first, I’ll dirty it too much.” Julian watched her movements curiously, eyeing her inquisitively as she moved to tuck his unruly fringe out of his red eye. She furrowed her brow when his gaze remained trained on her. The doctor had a suspicion about him, darting around his mind as he regarded his wife. He glanced down at her hands. She was idly picking underneath the nails, and that was enough to confirm his hunch: something was on her mind.<br/>
</p><p>“Jules? Is there something amiss?” She inquired, tilting her head as he rolled up his sleeves. He pondered for a moment, deciding to let her do the talking. He smiled, softness in his flagstone blue eyes as he eyed the woman before him.<br/>
</p><p>“Not anything I can recall, no,” He answered, and watched her smile in return. He crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, leering down at the water before he glanced back to his wife. “Say, are you sure you don’t want to wash first? I’d hate to keep a good woman waiting,” He winked, flashing that dangerous, dazzling grin that always caught Midas off guard. She chuckled quietly, though she was a bit wary of the shift in his demeanor. Usually, he didn’t mind to go first while she carried on locking up.<br/>
</p><p>“No, no, Julian, by all means,” She smiled, though she was sure her nurturing hand was sabotaged by that daring look of bravado he pulled out of the vault. Contrary to her efforts, the man stepped forward to lace his fingers back into hers. He pulled her into his chest, dropping one hand to hold her to him as if they were a pair of ballroom dancers. She smiled into his chest, and he leaned down to speak to her.<br/>
</p><p>“Midas,” He murmured lowly, placing a kiss to her temple. “What’s keeping you from me tonight?” He felt her tense slightly, and he instinctively rubbed at the small of her back to soothe her. He knew something had her doubting herself, and he had his ideas about what it could be, but she needed to be the one to say it. He felt his wife sigh in absence of herself, bracing to speak.<br/>
</p><p>“I just,” she began, pausing in thought. “I just want you to know you don’t have to change anything about yourself for me,” She admitted, flushing softly under the weight of embarrassment. Julian wasted no time in shushing her. He pulled back, tilting her chin up to meet his gaze. A tender, bittersweet smile crossed his lips.<br/>
</p><p>“My darling, if I hadn’t changed anything about myself, I would have been dead years ago,” He explained. A thought came into his head, and he made a funny face as he processed it. “Or worse,” He amended.<br/>
</p><p>“Or worse?” She inquired, feeling her heart sink. Her brows knit together in concern as she searched his expression. She found only patience, and her face flushed under the fondness with which he looked at her. The magician's momentary fear abated, and she could feel the earnestness in his words, not only in her heart but in every fiber of her being.<br/>
</p><p>“I would have missed out on you.” Midas smiled softly up at him, opening her mouth to speak, and he halted her. “I would have taken every risk, and none of them would have led me to you. Midas, my dear, you’re the soundest choice I’ve ever made.”  He watched her eyes flit away, down to the fabric of his shirt, as a genuinely sweet smile spread across her lips. As far away from magic as he was, Julian would never deny it in what he felt when he was next to Midas. He hummed his approval.<br/>
</p><p>“Very good, that’s my beloved,” He smiled, watching as she flushed under his praise. Midas pulled him to her lips, granting him a loving kiss before pulling away, a bit sooner than Julian would have preferred.<br/>
</p><p>“Go on, wash up, love. I’ll be here.” Midas began to pull away, only to be kept by the grip her husband held on her hand. Julian pulled her back into place, watching her confused gaze as he pressed his lips to the inside of her palm. She smiled gently. “I’m not getting out of this one, hm?” Julian chuckled against her wrist, sending pinpricks of electricity up the length of her arm and into her heart. She caught sight of that tell-tale, dashing grin, and felt her heart stagger behind her chest.<br/>
</p><p>“Not easily, no.” She felt his lips curl into her soft flesh, flushing at the sensation and the way they triggered her heart to leap into her throat. She laughed softly, disguising the soft sigh that threatened to leave her lips under a mask of innocence. Julian hummed his approval, catching his wife unprepared at the way his voice mellowed into something deeper than his typical tones.<br/>
</p><p>“See, darling," He mused, watching her with mirth in his exposed eyes. “Even I can feel that one." He couldn’t refuse the pride swelling in his chest, at the thought of his wife, or what he was about to say. Midas’ brows knit together anew. She hadn’t stopped feeling his magic once, but she was surprised at his vigor to discern it himself.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh? What do you feel, love?” She inquired. Surely he knew what it felt like by now, right? “You mean the magic?” Julian flashed an unapologetic grin, smugger than a leech in a blood bank. The way he quirked his brows already made Midas brace herself for whatever he had to say next. “Contrary, dear,” He winked at her, and Midas had half a mind to roll her eyes already. </p><p>"Chemistry."</p>
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